Crisis, which crisis? It looked like England had again come up short with the bat at Old Trafford and were heading for another 50-over defeat. But another inquest was spectacularly averted by their trio of left-armed sailors.
Returning Reece Topley and David Willey along with Sam Curran simply blew South Africa away as they crashed to six for four and then 27 for five, aided by a great run-out from Jos Buttler in response to 201 in what was a 29-over game was canceled due to rain.
It was England’s best ever start to a one-day international innings, the first four wickets fell in 10 balls without giving up a run, and one that saved their underperforming batters and squared this three-match one-day international series with a 118 run win.
Reece Topley was again impressive with the ball for England first and took 2-17 in the match
Liam Livingstone hit three sixes in a row on Anrich Nortje before being caught for 38
There was no turning back from there as South Africa quickly perished for 83 in more rain, posing a greater threat to England’s chances of winning than their opponents.
Now the games head to Headingley for tomorrow’s decider with England’s first white-ball series win under Buttler now within reach.
Buttler knows there are still questions to be answered with the bat. He said he wanted his side to issue a letter of intent here, but again they failed to find that magic formula so prevalent under Eoin Morgan. There were a lot of big hits, but none were able to play the innings of substance they so missed.
To be fair, South Africa was excellent, with the ball at least, after Keshav Maharaj decided to bowl, although there was no real swing or seam with the two white balls.
Instead there was a powerful wobble seam from the excellent Dwaine Pretorius, replacing concussion victim Andile Phehluckwayo, good slower balls from Lungi Ngidi and intelligent spin from South African captain and left arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi.
Sam Curran made a late cameo for England, with 35 from 18 balls hitting number eight
Dwaine Pretorius took four wickets for 36 runs from his six overs for South Africa
England are determined to stay with Jason Roy alongside longtime opening partner Jonny Bairstow, but again there was a lack of real fluidity and timing from the Surrey man who hit three fours before falling to Anrich Nortje’s extra pace.
Phil Salt had been given the chance to fill Ben Stokes’ giant shoes at home and there were glimpses of promise in his 17 out of 10 balls before becoming the first of four casualties for Pretorius.
Much rested on the shoulders of the two batters who did so much to transform the English Test fortunes into Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root.
Yet both fell in the same Pretorius, Root slid down the wicket but flew an attempted hit over the center of the wicket and Bairstow threw through that slower, wobbly seam.
When Moeen Ali gave it away on the border, as he all too often does, and Jos Buttler cut Shamsi to short third, England threatened to implode again and deliver a second win on a plate to South Africa.
Adil Rashid fired Dwaine pretorius, Keshav Maharaj and Lungi Ngidi to take 3-29
Moeen Ali (right) struggled with the bat, but supported Rashid with the ball and took two wickets
That they achieved at least what appeared to be respectability was thanks to a powerful attack from Liam Livingstone and Curran.
England haven’t yet seen the best of the explosive Livingstone in the longer white-ball game, but here he took England’s hitting to another level by taking Nortje’s 90-plus miles per hour pace for three straight sixes at the start of the game. the 21st about to break.
Livingstone’s chances of six sixes in an over ended when he flashed the fourth ball over slips for four and it was all over from the fifth when he hit a virtual tennis shot to the center of the ball. Still, the Lancashire batter had made 38 from 26 balls and showed England the way forward in this format, albeit only too short.
Curran wasn’t far behind when he hit three sixes himself and he was another to find the boundary in three consecutive balls, in his case four, four, six from Shamsi, before falling on a slower, wider ball.
Then the England innings became a matter of just trying to make up their 29 overs – something they never did under Morgan – but they weren’t even able to do that, Adil Rashid ran out with five balls left when England were thrown out for the fifth consecutive time in this spell of temporary 50-over cricket. But their mood immediately improved.
New England captain Jos Buttler was relieved to see his side set the series at 1-1
A total of 201 suddenly seemed far more than respectable as Topley, resting for the first game in Durham, made two early incisions, including centurymaker on Tuesday in Rassie van der Dussen who strangled down the leg side without scoring. He has now taken 11 wickets in 50-over cricket against India and South Africa, missing the first ODI.
Willey was another to miss the heavy defeat at Durham, but he sent De Kock off after Topley sent Van der Dussen back and when Buttler ran out of Aiden Markram before putting in a brilliant stretch of fielding, England was in business.
England’s bowlers were able to get a lot more movement under the Old Trafford lights than South Africa had managed and when the drizzle returned Buttler turned to make sure he could rush through 20 overs and make sure could make sure there was a match.
It wasn’t necessary as Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid played their part in what was an emphatic and important victory for England and Buttler, the leg spinner who finished by three wickets. They hope to add a series triumph tomorrow in Leeds.